The Darkest Light Casts The Brightest Shadow
by hinatasgreatestfan
Summary: On the night of Naruto's birth, Madara visits Kushina's hospital room, then vanishes into the night. What did he do, where did he go, and what does he have planned?
1. Prologue: Arrival and Departure

Prologue

Jiraiya grinned and pressed his eye to the small hole he had found some years ago in the fence of the women's bath. He giggled, loving the view he was getting, until a flash of yellow light nearly blinded him. "Jiraiya-sensei! Come meet your godson!" Minato Namikaze, Fourth Hokage and Yellow Flash of the Leaf, said before disappearing again in a second flash of yellow.

Jiraiya grimaced as he heard a loud scream from within the bathhouse. "Damn blonds, always getting me into trouble," he muttered to himself as a horde of angry women poured over the wall and attacked him. Despite the pain, he couldn't help smiling as he got a _very_ up-close look at their naked bodies.

Minato looked down at the red-headed woman laying in the bed in front of him. She smiled up at him and held up the tiny baby in her arms to him. Minato gently, lovingly took the baby into his arms and held him. "Hello, Naruto," he said softly. "Welcome to the world, my son."

Naruto opened his eyes, giving Minato a slight shock as he saw the brilliant blue of his own eyes looking back at him. The small child, whose blond hair was already obvious, smiled and giggled as he looked into his father's face. Minato smiled down at Kushina, who reached out a hand. Minato took her hand in his, holding Naruto in his other arm. "Have you seen Hiashi?" Kushina asked suddenly. Minato looked confused. "You know, the contract."

Minato chuckled, realizing what Kushina was really asking. "He said there shouldn't be any problem at all," he said. Kushina smiled and nodded as if to say "I told you so". Minato chuckled again at how easily he could read his wife.

"Good," Kushina said. "Our Naruto deserves the best. I'm sure little Hinata will be the best girl around." That said, she lay back on her bed and closed her eyes. Minato slowly sat down in the chair next to her bed, still holding his son, his eyes twinkling with sheer joy.

As Minato sat, holding his son, the door to Kushina's hospital room opened. Minato looked up and smiled as he saw Hashirama and Tobirama Senju walk through the door. The two old men smiled at Minato as they leaned on their canes, each made using Hashirama's Wood Style. "So, you're finally a father, eh, Minato? I wondered how long it'd take you to make something of yourself," Hashirama deadpanned. Minato could only tell the man was joking by the slight mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

Minato chuckled. "You were older than I am when your first was born, Hashirama," he said back, his blue eyes twinkling as well. Hashirama simply bowed his head slightly, acknowledging Minato's point; when he looked back up, he was smiling kindly.

Hashirama smiled at Minato and Naruto. Forming hand signs, quickly for his age, he built a crib for the infant using a Wood Style jutsu. Minato rose from the chair where he had been sitting, admiring the crib as he walked toward it; from the curving feet up to the arcing canopy, there wasn't a square inch of the crib that wasn't decorated with ornate carvings. Just as Minato reached it, a scream was heard from outside. Minato dodged out of the way just in time for Jiraiya to slam through the window of Kushina's room and straight into the crib, shattering it.

Minato looked at Jiraiya, a look of consternation on his face. "Jiraiya-sensei, what did you do this time?" he asked. The white-haired man tried to stand; Minato helped him to his feet with the hand that wasn't holding Naruto. Jiraiya, seeing the infant, smiled softly and took the baby gently from his father and held him.

"So this is Naruto?" he asked. Minato smiled proudly and nodded. Jiraiya threw an arm around his old student. "I'm proud of you, kid. Looks like you've got yourself a fine son here."

Minato smiled in response. "Thank you, Jiraiya-sensei," he said, tears in his eyes. "That means a lot, coming from you." Hashirama muttered about Jiraiya's research causing more trouble than it was worth and built a second crib before anyone in the room noticed he had even moved.

An ANBU agent entered the room just then and handed a slip of paper to Minato before disappearing. Minato opened it and read the slip of paper. He turned to everyone in the room and spoke seriously, all traces of his previous joviality gone; now, he was all Hokage and all business. "Madara will be here soon," he said.

xxxxxx

Stepping out of Kushina's hospital room, Madara put his orange spiral mask back on to hide his smile. _"I really didn't mean to keep the Hokages waiting, but I just had too much to do before I could get here,"_ he thought to himself. He walked out of the hospital casually; naturally, no one noticed him.

Making his way out into the streets of Konoha, Madara slowly began to walk around the village. First, he made his way to the Uchiha district, where he visited the aerie and tended to his favorite falcon, Miki. That done, the black-haired man left his family district and continued to tour the village, always hiding in shadow, never being noticed. At one point during his tour, Madara was noticed by one of the Inuzuka clan's ninja hounds. The large one-eyed dog looked straight at him and barked a few times. _"I won't miss them, that's for sure,"_ he thought to himself.

Heading toward the main gate of the Leaf Village, Madara was noticed by a single guard. Madara nodded to the man, who simply nodded back before letting Madara pass by unhindered. Madara gave a slight smile behind the mask, then leapt to the top of the village's main gate. Turning, he looked over the Leaf Village, his red eyes taking in every detail. "I'll see you soon, Konoha," he said quietly. Then, turning, Madara jumped down from the gate. Landing outside the village, he ran into the forests and was gone.


	2. Graduation

Chapter 1

Hinata sighed; these tests were so ridiculous. She only wished they had done something a little bit harder than just creating a freaking clone! She'd been using Shadow Clones for a long time now, so a normal clone was nothing to her. She sighed again; it wasn't all that surprising that she would be a better ninja than most of her _civilian_ classmates.

Approaching the classroom, Hinata saw her cousin, Neji, leaving it and heading toward her. "I assume you passed, Lady Hinata?" he asked; his tone said it wasn't a question.

"Of course. Good luck, Brother," she responded, smiling at her older cousin.

"I do not need luck, it is fate that I will pass this test. But thank you for the sentiment, nonetheless," he answered. As he spoke, a yellow blur flew past him and attached itself to Hinata. "Oh, and hello, Naruto." That said, the Hyuga boy turned and headed off to the testing room for his own final test. _"I am so ready to leave this place and that goofy blond behind,"_ he thought to himself.

Hinata looked down at the blond who had wrapped both his arms around one of hers. "You're never going to give up, are you, Naruto?" she asked, her eyes twinkling, a small smile playing around the corners of her lips.

"Nope!" was the answer. "I told you I'd get you to go out with me some day, and until I do, nothing is going to stop me, not now, not ever." Naruto turned his signature fox-like grin up at the midnight-blue-haired heiress. "Besides, how can I resist when your dark hair and those white eyes just make you so damn adorable I want to eat you up?"

Hinata blushed; she hated it how the blond could always do that to her, but, at the same time, she had to admit she rather liked it at the same time. "Oh, all right, Naruto, we can go out, just this once," she said, giving him a small, sweet smile.

Naruto held up two fingers in the "V for Victory" sign, grinned, and said, "Yay!" like he had just won the lottery or something.

Hinata giggled at his antics. "You're really enjoying this, aren't you, Naruto?" she asked.

Naruto laughed. "Sure am; it's always fun to prank people," he answered. The two looked around briefly. No one was in sight. "See you tonight, then?" Naruto asked more quietly. Hinata nodded. Naruto darted in and kissed Hinata lightly, then dashed back into the classroom and to his seat. Hinata, smiling happily, headed off out of the Academy building.

Naruto chuckled to himself as he sat down in his seat. Next to him, head flat on his desk, was one Shikamaru Nara. The lazy boy was waiting until next year to take the final exam. Naruto and Hinata had decided to take it a year early as both were tired of the Academy. Looking around the classroom, Naruto thought of the years he'd had with his current classmates.

There were the three children of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi. Naruto would have bet good money that those three would find themselves on a team whenever they graduated. Not that any of them would really mind; Ino had had her eye on Choji for years, and Shikamaru and Choji were best friends. Naruto chuckled; the only reason Ino and Choji weren't dating was that Choji had no idea Ino was after him.

Then there was Kiba Inuzuka. Like all members of his clan, Kiba had two red fang marks painted on his cheeks and a dog companion. In Kiba's case, said companion was a small white puppy named Akamaru. He and Naruto had always gotten along just fine, though Kiba often said there was something foxy about Naruto's scent. Naruto liked Kiba and liked Akamaru even more. He even brought treats for Akamaru on occasion, which only endeared the blond to both animal and master even more.

Next to Kiba was the heir of the Aburame clan, Shino. Naruto always had to wonder how in the hell this friendship started. Kiba was by far the most emotional person in the entire class (Naruto himself was a close second), but Shino was by far the _least_ emotional person there. Yet somehow the two had become fast friends during their first year in the Academy, and neither had looked back it seemed.

On Shino's other side was one of the few anomalies in the group: Sakura Haruno. With her pink hair (yes, pink) and green eyes, Naruto had at one point thought she was pretty, but when she showed herself to be rather quick-tempered and prone to attack, Naruto left her to Kiba, who she was fangirling over at the time anyway. Come to think of it, it wasn't long after that that Kiba and Shino became friends...nah, probably just a coincidence. The result of this, though, was that Sakura _never_ got to sit beside Kiba, and, as such, her fangirling was always done at the distance of at least two seats away. Not that Naruto thought Kiba and Shino's friendship was fake, far from it, just that little side effect seemed extremely beneficial to Kiba from the blond's perspective.

Thinking of fangirls, Naruto turned his attention to the one who had plopped herself down next to the blond himself: Amaya Uchiha. With her well-developed figure and sporting the black hair and eyes of her clan, Naruto had to admit the girl was attractive. She kept her long black hair out of her face by pulling it into a tight ponytail, and her dark eyes often sparkled with mischief. Unlike the rest of her clan, she had no trouble showing her emotions whatsoever. The result of this, of course, was that, despite her skills and her already-awakened Sharingan, she was considered a failure and mostly ignored by her clan. Naruto respected the girl for her skills and for her defiance of her clan, but the whole fangirl thing, especially when it was aimed at him, just annoyed the hell out of him. If she could just get over that, maybe some day they could be friends but, in the meantime, not a chance.

Naruto sighed; if only Amaya had taken more after her cousins, Itachi and Sasuke. Naruto and Sasuke were two of the very few people in the village who knew the real reason Itachi and Madara had disappeared from the village the night Naruto himself was born. Obviously, Naruto had never met Itachi, but everyone said Sasuke was just like his older brother. Sasuke was a happy kid, trained hard, and loved his family and his village. If Itachi was like that, Naruto was sure he would like Itachi. Naruto considered Sasuke a friend, even though the two had only met a couple times; in truth, Naruto missed Sasuke. He hadn't seen him in some years as, after the first year at the Academy, the young Uchiha had entered "special training" and hadn't been seen since.

Naruto had managed to glean from Amaya that the clan knew about Sasuke's "special training" and weren't worried about it, but, other than that, he knew nothing. In and of itself, that fact bothered Naruto more than the fact that Sasuke was getting whatever training it was.

Iruka entered the classroom, interrupting Naruto's thoughts. "Naruto, we're ready for you now," he said, a small smile on his face. Naruto gave his sensei a grateful grin and made his way out of the room. The two made their way to the testing room, and Iruka sat down. "All right, Naruto, do a transformation and a substitution and create at least three clones and you pass."

Naruto chuckled. "Iruka-sensei, this test is really just meant to show that I have good chakra control, right?" he asked. Iruka nodded. "Good." Holding out one hand, Naruto created his own signature jutsu in his hand. "I think this will suffice for that, don't you?"

Iruka looked shocked. "Naruto, is that...?" Naruto nodded, his grin so wide it threatened to break his face. "Yes, Naruto, I believe that will suffice. Just for curiosity's sake, though, would you do the other three jutsu please?"

Naruto just chuckled again. "Sure, Iruka-sensei," he said, dispelling the jutsu in his hand. First, he transformed into a perfect female version of himself, making Iruka and his assistant laugh. Then he substituted with said assistant. Finally, he created three Shadow Clones. Then, just to show off, he made each of said clones transform into something different and substituted among them.

Iruka grinned. "Good, Naruto, good," he said proudly. He handed the blond a headband from the table in front of him. "Congratulations, Naruto, you graduate. Team assignments will be tomorrow morning in the old classroom. See you then, yeah?"

Naruto put his headband on, grinning proudly. "Yeah, see you then, Iruka-sensei." That said, the blond left the room and quickly made his way out of the Academy building.

Naruto was barely a step out of the Academy when a lavender and indigo blur slammed into him. Naruto grinned, using the momentum of the impact to spin himself and Hinata around. When he stopped, the two stood, arms around one another and smiling. "You ready to leave this place behind, Hinata?" he asked. The girl smiled up at him and nodded. Both noticed after a moment that their former classmates were leaving the Academy building and staring at them curiously. "Now?" Naruto asked, a cheeky grin on his face. Hinata blushed then nodded shyly. Naruto grinned and, bending slightly, kissed the girl deeply. Hinata responded in kind, both of them luxuriating in the kiss, neither caring how their classmates were reacting.

After what seemed like forever and yet was nowhere near long enough, the two young lovers parted. Turning to their classmates, they were satisfied to see that the only person whose jaw wasn't sitting on the ground was Sakura, and that was only because she was too busy fangirling over Kiba as usual. Naruto held up one hand in a half-ram hand sign, and the two disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Reappearing in a nearby training ground, Naruto and Hinata grinned at one another for a moment before both burst into laughter. By the time the two had calmed down, they were laying on the ground with tears streaming from their eyes from laughing so hard.

"Oh, wow, that was hilarious!" Hinata gasped out. Naruto grinned at her; he loved it when she was like this. "Did you see the look on Kiba's face? He looked stunned!"

Naruto grinned. "Kiba? I wasn't even looking at him. _Shino_ was actually showing his emotions for once! His jaw must have been hanging around his knees somewhere!" At that, the two burst into laughter yet again.

By the time the two calmed themselves down again, it was time for Hinata to head home. Naruto held out a hand to her, and the two made their way back into the village proper, hands linked. Arriving at the Hyuga compound, Naruto gave Hinata a tight hug and a gentle kiss, then the two separated. Naruto made his way to the top of the Hokage monument, where he sat and watched the sun set over the village like he did almost every day. He didn't realize how tired he was, apparently, because the next thing he knew, he was sound asleep, laying on top of the Third Hokage's stone head.

xxxxxx

Hinata entered the Hyuga compound with a smile on her face. Opening the door to the building where she, her mother and father, and Hanabi all lived, she was greeted by one of the Branch House members. "Good evening, Lady Hinata," he said.

Hinata gave him a slight frown. "How many times have I told you, Uncle Hizashi, to just call me Hinata?"

"Somewhere in the upper thousands, I believe," he answered. "But, as I've told you every time, it would be unfitting for someone of my station to not show you the proper respect, Lady Hinata."

Hinata gave a sigh of mock-frustration, but there was a happy twinkle in her eye. She threw her arms around the man. "It's good to see you again, Uncle Hizashi," she said.

"And you as well, Niece," Hizashi said. He hugged her back; after a moment, the two separated and made their way together into the family dining room.

"Ah, good evening, Daughter," Hiashi spoke from the head of the table. "And you as well, Brother. I'm glad the two of you could join us." The Hyuga head spoke with a slight smile on his face. Next to him, his wife smiled at her daughter and brother-in-law as the two bowed and took their seats, Hizashi opposite her and Hinata beside her. "Now that everyone's here, let's eat." As he spoke, Branch Family members entered and served dinner to everyone at the table. "Now, Hinata, Neji, tell me how your exams went today."

"We both passed, Father," Hinata said as the family began to eat. Hiashi smiled at her. "Neji and I were second and third in the class, behind Naruto. And the Uchiha in Naruto and my class didn't even take the exam yet."

Hiashi chuckled. "But of course, we of the Hyuga clan are superior to the Uchiha by definition," he said. Had his family not known him or not seen the mischievous twinkle in his eye, they would have thought he was being arrogant. As it was, however, they knew he was just saying he was proud of them. "And what about you and Naruto?" he asked Hinata then.

Hinata blushed, remembering what they had done earlier that day. "Our relationship is progressing smoothly, Father," she said back. "As you know, we've been going out for some time now, with no one but those here knowing. As of today, everyone in our class knows about it."

Hiashi smiled. "Good, finally staking your claim are you, Daughter?" he said, chuckling slightly.

His wife swatted him on the arm, but she was smiling. "I'm proud of you, Hinata," she said. "And I'm glad you're happy with him."

Hinata blushed. "I believe he will make a wonderful husband and father," she said. Everyone could tell, despite her blush, that she was truly happy with her match. "Mother, Father, thank you both for doing that for me."

Hiashi laughed out loud at that. He pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to Hinata. Reading it, Hinata discovered it was a marriage contract for herself and Naruto. "See there, Daughter, just how much the clan will benefit from this marriage?" he asked. She nodded. "At first, this was done for your clan, not for you. However, we are all glad you're happy about it now. If you were not, we would never force you."

Hinata smiled. "Thank you all," she said softly. As she was speaking, a member of the Branch Family brought out a huge plate of cinnamon rolls. Hinata gasped.

"I made these for you myself, Hinata, to celebrate your graduation," her mother said. Hinata smiled brightly, tears of joy in her eyes at the simple gesture of affection.

"Oh, come now, Niece, you should have known to expect this," Hizashi said, teasing her for her show of emotion.

"Indeed, Hinata," Neji added in his two ryo. "Your mother always makes you cinnamon rolls when you do something great like this. It's as reliable as fate." He said the last with a smile on his face. He used to be bitter about fate, but ever since he began to truly believe Hinata would some day release him from his seal, he became much more accepting of it and now only said it as a sort of joke.

Hinata smiled at her uncle and cousin. "Perhaps you are right, both of you, but still, it's hard for me to not show my feelings, you know that. Thank you, Mother. Please, everyone, dig in," she said then, not wanting anyone to feel left out; after all, she was a very kind girl. The rest of the meal was spent in companionable silence as everyone enjoyed the delicious sweet rolls.

After dinner was over, Hinata made her way to her bed and fell asleep almost immediately. She dreamed that night of being on a team with Naruto, though she knew that wasn't likely.

xxxxxx

By the time Naruto awoke, it was well after dark. He got up and made his way to his ancestral home. As he'd expected, all the lights were out, leaving the large home in darkness. Opening the front door, he made his way to his bedroom and slipped under the covers of his bed. Curling up to a fox plushy he'd had since he was a baby, he was soon sound asleep, dreaming of tomorrow and getting his new team.

The next morning, Naruto and Hinata were sitting with the rest of the graduates, both of them wondering who the boy with the magnificent eyebrows was. Neji told them his name was Rock Lee, but they knew nothing more about him. They both noticed that a certain kunoichi seemed to be staring at Naruto with stars in her eyes, but neither of them paid her any mind; her name, they knew, was Tenten. They also knew she wouldn't do anything to steal Naruto away from Hinata, so neither was worried about her.

As the young couple sat together, their musings over their comrades were interrupted by a silver-haired man with a Chunin vest entering the room. The man looked over Naruto and Hinata. "Oh, you two must be the early graduates," he said. They nodded. "I'm Mizuki-sensei, and I'll be giving out your team assignments. Iruka was going to do it, but he's feeling a bit under the weather today." Naruto was a bit disappointed in that, but he shrugged it off and gave Mizuki a smile.

"All right, I'll see him later," the blond said, promising himself to go visit his sick sensei after the assignments were given. Mizuki nodded.

"All right, everyone, I'm proud of you all, you're all shinobi of the Leaf Village now. I look forward to working with you," he said. "Now, let's see, Team One..." As he read off the team lists, both Naruto and Hinata tuned him out, only catching that Lee and Tenten were on a team with someone neither knew. "Team Six," Mizuki said then. "Naruto Namikaze, Hinata Hyuga, and Neji Hyuga." Naruto and Hinata cheered, while Neji just groaned. "Your sensei will be ANBU legend Shisui Uchiha."


	3. Unrung Heroes

Chapter 2

Naruto, Hinata, and Neji were following a young man with unkempt hair that reached half-way down his neck. Between this and his high-collared dark outfit, it was somewhat difficult to tell much more about him than that. The man carried himself with dignity, and the newly-minted Team Six could tell that this was not a man to be trifled with. The team reached a small clearing, and their sensei turned to them. To the three new Genin's surprise, the man's Sharingan was active. The man gestured for his students to sit, which all three did.

"All right, you three," he began, "let's start by introducing ourselves, I guess. I'll go first. I am Shisui Uchiha, as I'm sure you guessed by now. My mastery of the body flicker technique has led to me being known as Shisui the Teleporter, but, honestly, I hate that nickname, so do us all a favor and never use it. I love my clan and my village deeply, as I believe any shinobi should, and it is my sworn duty to protect this village from within its own shadow. I hate...well, anyone who would threaten my clan or my village had better hope they don't run into me." Team Six felt a collective chill as their sensei said this. "I don't really have time for hobbies outside of training, and my dream is to protect this village with everything I have, even if it means my own death. As for you three, my goal is to make you into shinobi worthy to take up my mantle once I cease being your sensei, so believe me when I say I will drill these principles into you relentlessly. All right, that's enough about me, tell me about yourselves."

Naruto stood first. "Likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams, huh?" he said. Shisui nodded. "All right then, Shisui-sensei, I'll go first. I am, as I'm sure all of you know, Naruto Namikaze. I love this village as much as you do, I suspect, Shisui-sensei, and I will be right beside you defending it from any threats that may come against it. My hobbies are pranking and gardening." At the odd look he got from his sensei, he added, "Don't ask, you don't want to know how that happened." Shisui nodded and let it go for the time being. Naruto then gestured at the Hokage monument, visible in the distance. "My dream is to have my face up there, right next to my dad's, and to be the greatest Hokage this village has ever known." Shisui smiled slightly and nodded in approval at Naruto. The blond re-took his seat and smiled back at his sensei.

Hinata rose next. "I'm Hinata Hyuga," she began. "I love my family, my clan, and my village, and neither of you had better think you'll be leaving me behind in defending them, either. I dislike being embarrassed and those who would hurt me or those precious to me. My hobby is flower-pressing. My dream is to be a suitable head of my clan and to free the Branch House from the Caged Bird Seal." That said, Hinata sat back down beside Naruto. Shisui nodded, then all three turned their attention to Neji.

Neji rose and stood, his manner dignified. "I am Neji Hyuga. I don't believe I need to state my love for my family, clan, or village, seeing as we all have that in common, nor do I need to state that I will be with you three defending them as well. I dislike weakness and seek to remove it from myself. I will also help anyone who seeks to remove their own weakness in their endeavor. My dream is to support Lady Hinata in her rise to her rightful position as the head of our clan and to aid her in freeing the Branch House."

Shisui smiled. "I am glad to see that you three each carry such a strong Will of Fire," he said then. He looked up a moment and thought to himself, _"You would be proud of this team, Itachi."_ Looking at his team again, he continued, "It is customary for a new team to be given a test by their sensei. In your case, however, I do not believe this is necessary. Naruto, how many Shadow Clones can you make at a time?"

Naruto thought a moment, then said, "Depends what I'm doing with them. If I'm going to use them for training, I can make about thirty, and I can train with them for two hours before I can't handle all the memories. If I'm sending them somewhere to gain information, I can make forty that will last about three hours for the same reason. If I'm fighting or sparring with them, I can manage about a hundred, but, obviously, the chances of those lasting more than a few minutes are rather slim."

Shisui nodded. "Before we will take on our first C-rank, you must either double the number of clones you can train with or double the duration you can train with them. I'm also told you have mastered the Rasengan?"

Naruto nodded, then held out one hand and formed not a Rasengan, but a Wind Style: Rasengan! "This is my personal form of the Rasengan. It took me months of training with clones, but I eventually managed to incorporate my wind chakra into it to form this. Then it took me about a year of training with the clones to be able to form it like this. I call it Wind Style: Rasengan. There's a more advanced form of it, but I won't use that unless it's _absolutely_ necessary, since it tears my arm apart when I use it." That said, he dispelled the jutsu.

Shisui smiled and shook his head slightly. "Only eleven, and you've already done what the Fourth Hokage himself couldn't do. I'm impressed, Naruto." Next, he turned to Hinata. "You can activate the Byakugan by now, I'm sure?" Hinata nodded. "How long can you have it on, and how far can you see with it?"

Hinata answered, "I can see for over two kilometers in every direction, and I can keep the Byakugan active for about an hour while seeing at that distance. The shorter the distance, the longer I can use the Byakugan."

Shisui thought a moment, then told her, "Your goal for us to take a C-rank is to add half an hour to your time using the Byakugan at max range." She nodded. Finally, Shisui turned to Neji. "I'm told that you have trained with Hiashi at using the Byakugan." Neji nodded. "Then I won't bother with that. Instead, you will master some jutsu before we take a C-rank." Here, Shisui handed Hinata and Neji a small slip of paper each. Hinata looked confused, so Shisui explained, "Naruto doesn't need to do this, he's obviously a wind type. You two, however, I don't know, so let's find out. Channel your chakra into those." The two Hyugas nodded. Hinata's paper got soggy, while Neji's crumbled into dust. Shisui nodded after a moment. "I suspect, Hinata, that you've had trouble with the traditional Gentle Fist?"

Hinata nodded, then told their sensei, "I've been training with my mother to develop a new style within the Gentle Fist. It's going quite well, actually."

"I'm not surprised, your water type isn't exactly compatible with the normal Gentle Fist. I suspect your new style relies more on flexibility and speed?" Hinata nodded again. Shisui nodded, his suspicions confirmed. "Neji, you are an earth type." Here, the dark-haired man reached into his pouch and pulled out a scroll. He tossed it to Neji. "This scroll contains five D-rank earth jutsu, four C-rank, three B-rank, two A-rank, and one S-rank. Don't mess with the S-rank, you don't have the chakra for it yet, but outside of that, choose two D-rank and at least one of each of the other ranks. Before we take on our first C-rank mission, you will show that you have mastered all of those; that's a total of five jutsu at the least." Neji nodded.

"Hinata," Shisui continued. "I have some scrolls of water jutsu as well, if you would like to learn some of them." Hinata nodded, and Shisui tossed her a scroll. "This is just like Neji's in its number, just they are water jutsu. I want you to focus on your Byakugan for now, though. I would be very proud if you could show me some water jutsu before we take on our first C-rank, though." Hinata nodded, a determined look in her eyes. "All right, now that that's covered, I want you three to come at me, attack me with the intent to kill. I want to see where you three are right now so I can set up a suitable training regime for you."

To Shisui's surprise, Hinata was the first to react to his words. She formed a cross with the first two fingers of each of her hands. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" she called, and moments later there were ten Hinata clones in the clearing. A moment later, Naruto formed the same sign, at which point the ten Hinata clones were joined by thirty Naruto clones. The group of forty clones rushed at Shisui. While fighting off the forty clones, which Shisui was surprised to find really _were_ trying to kill him when a few Naruto clones came at him with Rasengans and several Hinata clones tried for lethal Gentle Fist strikes, the ANBU was unable to keep track of his team, and Naruto, Hinata, and Neji slipped out of the clearing and into the surrounding trees.

The three found a spot where they would be out of sight from the clearing but where they could return to where their sensei was at a moment's notice if need be. "He's not having any trouble dispelling my clones," Naruto said as he felt his tenth clone's memories return to him.

"Mine, either," Hinata added in as her third clone was dispelled. "I know he's just testing us out as it were, but he certainly isn't taking us lightly." Both then turned to Neji.

"I'm not surprised," he said after a moment. "I've met Shisui-sensei once before. He was training Sasuke before he entered that 'special training' that he's doing now. Even though he was training a member of his own clan who was at least seven years his junior, he didn't seem to be holding back then, either." Naruto and Hinata let that sink in a moment. Neji continued, "Not that I think he was trying to kill Sasuke, I'm sure he wasn't, and I doubt he'll try to kill us either, but still, he's not the type to mess around."

Naruto nodded thoughtfully. "All right, fine, he won't use kid gloves with us. What do we do?" he questioned the Hyuga prodigy. Everyone in Team Six knew that Naruto wasn't the one who would likely come up with their plans. Neji sat down, crossed his legs, and closed his eyes.

Naruto was about to say something, to ask Neji what he was doing, but Hinata stopped him. "Let him be a minute, he's meditating," she told Naruto. "He says it helps him think clearly, gives him inner peace."

Naruto nodded. "I'll have to ask him how he does that, it might come in handy," he said after a moment. Hinata giggled. Naruto looked at her, then asked, "What's so funny? I'm serious; if I ever try to learn to use sage chakra, I'll need to be able to do that, so learning it now would be a big help."

Hinata blushed slightly, then looked at Naruto and told him, "I was just picturing you with hair as long as Neji's, sitting like he is now, in long white robes. I could almost hear you talking about fate!"

Naruto thought about that a moment, then realized how completely ridiculous the image was. He chuckled as well, then told Hinata, "The only thing I'd ever say about fate is this: Fate is my bitch!" Turning up toward the sky, he called rather loudly, "Yeah, that's right, Fate! I'm Naruto Namikaze, and you are my bitch!" He then turned to Hinata with a foxy grin on his face and a twinkle in his eyes. Hinata couldn't help it; she burst into laughter. Soon, both she and Naruto were rolling on the ground laughing. Even Neji, despite his deep meditative state, had developed a twitch at the corner of his lips as he tried to restrain his own mirth.

After Neji had meditated for about five minutes, Naruto and Hinata each felt their last clones get dispelled, and Neji opened his eyes. "All right, I've got it," he said.

xxxxxx

Shisui took a deep breath as he finally dispelled the last of the clones that had been left to fight him. _"I should have known Hinata would be able to use clones, too,"_ he thought to himself. Standing in the middle of the clearing, he brushed himself off and smiled slightly. _"I'm glad the Hokage wasn't wrong about them. They're good. Now let's see what they'll do next."_

Just as he was thinking this, Naruto, Hinata, and Neji appeared from the trees in front of Shisui. "Ah, there you are. I was just about to come looking for you three," he commented off-hand.

"Yeah, well, why would we let you do that when we already know where you are, and you're right where we want you?" Naruto asked, his voice taunting.

"_Good, Naruto,"_ Shisui thought. _"Get your enemy riled up, annoy them into making a mistake. Very good."_ Aloud, he said, "Do you have me right where you want me or do you have me right where I want you?" He moved toward the three. After his first step, Hinata and Neji both activated their Byakugan and entered the Gentle Fist stance, though Hinata's was slightly different. _"So that's the stance for her new style, is it?"_

The four people met half-way across the clearing. Shisui attacked Hinata first, thinking she would be the easiest to take out. Hinata surprised him by dodging the attack and swiping at his legs with a kick. The ANBU leapt to avoid it, only to be met mid-air by Naruto, who swung at his midsection. Dodging backward, the man bent his body into a C shape, which, unfortunately for him, meant that he couldn't do anything about the attack that Neji launched at him from behind. "Eight Trigrams, Air Palm!" Neji yelled and sent his hand forward. To Shisui's surprise, the hand came nowhere near him, yet he felt like something hit him in the back with the force of a hammer. The result of this was that his back was straightened against his will and he was slammed into Naruto's still-coming fist. Shisui gasped, the air in his lungs forced out as Naruto flipped and kicked him in the chest, which sent the man hurtling to the ground. Slamming onto the ground, Shisui simply rested on his back and breathed a few moments.

Shisui rose from the ground after catching his breath and looked at his three students. "Good plan, you three, but now you've hit me with it once, I won't likely fall for it again, so what now?" he said as he rose and moved toward them quickly, this time aimed at Neji. Just as he was preparing to swing for the Hyuga boy, he saw an odd grin spread on Neji's face. Neji made a waving motion then suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke. Shisui's momentum took him straight into the surprisingly large cloud of smoke. The smoke was so thick, Shisui couldn't see anything even with his active Sharingan. He caught glimpses of movement now and then, but he couldn't react to any of it. Suddenly, from behind him, he heard what sounded like Naruto's voice.

Naruto had formed clones while Shisui was blinded by the smoke from the dispelled clone. There were four clones, two in front of Shisui, one behind and left of him, and the last behind and right of him. The two behind moved first, then one from in front. Each clone landed a solid kick on the man, sending him higher into the air with each attack. The three each said a syllable of Naruto's name.

"Na-" said the first.

"Ru-" said the second.

"To!" said the third.

Then the real Naruto used the fourth clone to vault himself up into the air and meet Shisui at the height of his trajectory. Grinning, he flipped over and kicked Shisui square in the face. "Namikaze Barrage!" he called out as he did so.

Shisui slammed into the ground for a second time, this time face-first. He wasn't really wounded or anything, but he had lost most of his will to fight these kids. Rolling onto his back and sitting up, he smiled at Team Six. "Another well-executed plan," he said. "I take it the Neji clone was yours, Hinata?" Hinata nodded. "Good to know. That was very skillfully done. I'm curious, though, Neji, why didn't you come with them?"

Neji shrugged. "It was my plan, and to make it work, I had to be out of sight. Otherwise you would have known when the clone took up the Gentle Fist stance that it wasn't me," he said. Shisui nodded.

"Well, you three did very well, and you showed me that not only are you powerful on your own, you can work well together as well. I will have a training schedule set up for you all by tomorrow, but for now, you're dismissed. I'll see you right here, first thing tomorrow morning, and be ready to train," he said.

Naruto had to ask, "What would you define as 'first thing in the morning'?"

Shisui looked up a moment, then sighed and shook his head. "When the sun is just rising in the east, that's first thing in the morning," he said back. "Now, get out of here you three, I'm sure you have better things to be doing than hanging around with me." At that, the three Genin nodded and headed out of the clearing. Turning from where the three had departed, Shisui asked, "Is there something I can do for you, Lord Hokage?"

The Hokage emerged from the trees and smiled at Shisui. "No, I was just checking on your team's progress today. I'm glad to see you passed them."

Shisui smiled in response. "It should be interesting training them. Thank you, Lord Hokage."

The Hokage blinked. "For what, Shisui?"

"For giving me the chance to train them. I know how much they all mean to you. I'll do my best to make you proud of all of them...and of me."

The Hokage smiled again. "I am already proud of you, Shisui, and I have high hopes that those three will prove to be ninja to be proud of as well."

xxxxxx

Naruto smiled at Hinata as they got back to the village proper. Hinata smiled back, and the two linked their hands together. Turning to Neji, Naruto asked, "Would you two like to join me for dinner tonight? I'm going out to celebrate graduating and all that, and you two are more than welcome to join me."

Hinata smiled. "I'd like that, Naruto," she said.

Neji smiled. "Ordinarily, I'd be happy to accept as well, Naruto, but my mother and father asked me to be home as early as possible tonight. I will have to decline this time," he said, bowing slightly.

"Oh, all right. See you in the morning then, Neji," Naruto said. "Oh, and could you let Hinata's parents know she's with me?"

"Of course. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to hear that," Neji replied, then turned and headed off toward the Hyuga compound.

Naruto and Hinata looked at one another, grinned, then took off at a run toward their favorite restaurant. A few minutes later, they had arrived. Across the street from where they were, the two saw Ino and Choji entering a barbecue restaurant. "I guess Ino finally got Choji's attention," Naruto commented.

Hinata giggled. "Yeah, looks like it," she said back. With that, the young couple entered the tea shop and ordered their own dinners.

xxxxxx

Neji smiled at his parents as he entered their part of the Hyuga compound. "I'm sorry I'm a bit later than expected," he began. "Our sensei engaged us in a spar today, and then Naruto asked me to let Uncle Hiashi know that he and Hinata were out together."

Hizashi smiled at his son. "It's fine, Neji," he said. "Now, sit down." Neji did as he was told, and within moments a full plate of herring soba was placed in front of him. Looking at his parents, Neji smiled and began to eat. Hizashi told Neji, "We are proud of you, Son."

Neji ate his food in silence, not trusting himself to speak for fear that if he did he would cry for joy. _"Father is proud of me!"_ he kept thinking to himself over and over. He'd never thought about it before, but this was the first time his father had actually _said_ those words to him.

xxxxxx

Their dinners eaten, Naruto and Hinata found themselves wandering the streets of the village, hands linked, as the sun was slowly setting over the horizon. Naruto turned to Hinata and smiled. "Come with me," he said. Hinata blushed, then nodded, and soon the two were on top of the Hokage monument. Specifically, they were sitting side-by-side on top of the Fourth Hokage's head. Hinata moved after a moment to sit between Naruto's legs and leaned back against him. Naruto wrapped his arms around Hinata gently and looked to his left. "One day, my face will be right there," he told Hinata.

Hinata turned around and ran her hand over Naruto's smooth cheek. She smiled. "I don't care where they put your face, so long as the real one stays with me," she said, feeling extremely cheesy even as she said it.

Naruto chuckled. "It will," he promised. Taking Hinata's hand in his own, he smiled at her gently, lovingly. The two kissed briefly, then leaned back and looked out over the village. "I'll protect it all. You, Neji, your clan, everyone in the village, I'll protect every last one of them," Naruto said suddenly.

Hinata smiled up at him. "And I'll be right by your side through it all," she said.

Naruto kissed Hinata again, then pulled back and smiled at her. Then he whispered, "I love you, Hinata."

Hinata gasped and blushed. This was the first time Naruto had actually told her he loved her! She knew he did, but this was the first time he'd ever said it! Swallowing, she whispered back, "I love you, too, Naruto."

Naruto leaned backward until he was laying on his back, letting Hinata rest on top of him and putting his arms around her protectively. Neither Genin ever noticed when their eyes fell shut, and soon both were asleep, arms around one another, on the top of the Fourth Hokage's head. Neither had ever slept so deeply or so soundly as they did that night, safe in one another's arms. So ended Naruto and Hinata's first day as Genin.


	4. Amaya's Bonds

Chapter 3

Amaya sighed deeply as she entered her clan's ancestral home. _"I should have known he'd graduate early!"_ she thought. She was extremely annoyed with herself for not seeing Naruto's graduation coming. _"He's only the best young ninja this village has seen in generations! How could I have been so stupid?"_ Ever since her long-time crush had graduated a week ago, Amaya had sunk into a depression. She had thrown herself into her training in an effort to keep her mind off things, but it wasn't exactly working.

Ironically, her fervent training had brought her the closest thing she'd ever gotten to approval from her clan. Her father could tell something was wrong, but he didn't know how to approach her about it, and her mother was deeply sympathetic. The rest of the clan, though, had begun to give her small nods of approval as her dark eyes showed less and less outward emotion. "She's finally becoming a proper Uchiha," they said. "Her father must be proud."

"_My father? Proud? Yeah, that'll be the day,"_ Amaya thought to herself with a snort. _"I don't think he'd be proud of me even if I became the Hokage!"_ Given the rather sour bend her thoughts had taken the last few days, the last thing she was expecting was to run into her aunt, Fumiko Uchiha.

"Amaya?" she heard her aunt's soft voice say. Turning, she managed a small, forced smile for her beloved aunt. "What's the matter, sweetie?" Fumiko asked gently as she finished approaching her obviously distraught niece.

Amaya sighed deeply. "I've never been able to hide anything from you, Aunt Fumiko," she said sadly. "I'm just depressed about Naruto, that's all." As she spoke, the duo had begun walking down one of the many halls of their clan compound. Soon enough, they made their way to a courtyard in the middle of the compound and found a quiet bench where they could sit and talk. Sitting down, Amaya began to tell her aunt everything that had happened with her long-time crush in the last while. Ever since he'd graduated and been seen by _everyone_ kissing the Hyuga girl, Amaya hadn't seen him, and it had been driving her crazy. _"On the other hand,"_ she thought cynically, _"it would probably be worse if I _had_ seen him...since he'd probably be with HER! Gah, why would he choose that prissy princess over me? What does she have that I don't?"_

Fumiko smiled at her niece and put an arm around the depressed girl's shoulders. "I know how you feel," she said gently. "It's been almost a decade since I last saw Itachi, but I still miss him every day."

Amaya looked up at her aunt with a look of almost desperation in her eyes. "But, Aunt Fumiko, how do you keep going when your heart is being torn in two? How do you keep living like nothing's wrong when you feel like you're missing part of yourself?"

Fumiko smiled down at Amaya and squeezed the girl's shoulder gently. "You just do," she said. "You find things to do to take your mind off the pain so you don't drive yourself insane. You train or you cook or you find some other way to occupy your time. I know it hurts, but sometimes you just have to keep going no matter what."

It was then that Amaya remembered hearing Naruto talk about his dream of being Hokage and saying no matter what happened, he wouldn't give up until he got there. _"If I'm going to be with him, I really should learn from him and not give up until I get what I want,"_ she told herself. "You're right, Aunt Fumiko," Amaya said, wiping away the tears that had started to leak from her eyes. "I really can't spend all my time sulking. I have things to be doing with my life. And I wouldn't be much of a ninja if I let something stupid like this get in the way of my dreams, would I?" Fumiko was a little worried about the determined look in her niece's eyes, but she decided not to comment on it for the time being; after all, Amaya clearly felt better, and that could only be for the best...right? Amaya suddenly got a mischievous glint in her dark eyes and asked, "Hey, Aunt Fumiko, what's it like dating Itachi?"

Fumiko blushed slightly, then answered, "It's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I remember when I was a kid, I always thought I'd end up married to some man who would abuse me or not pay attention to me, but, when I got with Itachi, I realized all my fears were unfounded. He's so sensitive, so kind, I really am the luckiest woman in the world." Then, Fumiko shot her niece a mischievous grin of her own and added, "Not to mention his rock hard body and how he always knows just how to give me the best orgasms ever." Amaya giggled, much to Fumiko's surprise. When her aunt raised an eyebrow at her, Amaya just looked at her, an innocent look in her eyes. "Okay, and just what is so funny, Amaya?" Fumiko asked.

Amaya giggled again. "I just can't picture Itachi doing anything so...undignified as making love," she said after a minute. "Plus, Aunt, you might want to get your story straight. If Itachi hasn't been here in almost a decade, how has he given you orgasms? He was _seven_ the last time he was _officially_ in the village!" Amaya was having trouble keeping a straight face while teasing her aunt; she was fully well aware that Itachi and Fumiko had been meeting illicitly outside the village a few times a year for the past two years.

Fumiko's dark eyes filled with deep emotion as she clearly thought about her long-time lover. "I know he seems straight-laced and cold to most people...but he really is a very sweet man," she said softly. "He might not show it most of the time, but, when it's just him and me...he lets his guard down, and I swear, Amaya, you'd be hard-pressed to find a man who has more love within him...and, if you ever do, don't ever let him go!"

Amaya sighed deeply. "I thought I had found one...but his love is not for me," she said after a minute, tears filling her eyes again. Fumiko pulled the girl to her and hugged her tightly, which Amaya returned, sobbing quietly onto her aunt's shoulder. They remained like that, simply holding onto one another, for several minutes, until Amaya had cried herself out. Amaya turned to her aunt with a sad smile and said simply, "Thank you, Aunt. I needed that."

Fumiko smiled. "You've comforted me plenty of times when I've been particularly down over missing Itachi," she said simply. "I was just returning the favor." The two shared a private smile, then Amaya got up and left the courtyard, leaving Fumiko alone with her thoughts. "I truly hope your future love is at least _there_ more than mine is, Amaya," she said to herself, then rose from the bench and made her way into the compound; she had things to do.

Amaya made her way to her room, where she collected a few things she was going to need. She picked up some braces of shuriken, a dozen or so kunai, some ninja wire, and a single explosive tag, just in case. She felt like she was armed a little more heavily than was strictly necessary, but she would much rather have more than she needed than find herself in need of something and not have it.

Making her way from her room, she proceeded to her family's training dojo. As she'd expected, she found her father there. "Father?" she said hesitantly. Her father, Yashiro Uchiha, looked up and gave his daughter a small smile. He may not have been the best at showing it, but Yashiro truly did love his daughter. He just wished she was a better Uchiha sometimes. He came over to her and nodded for her to speak. "If you're not too busy, Father, would you do me the honor of sparring with me?" Amaya asked.

Yashiro smiled at the girl and nodded. "I always have time to spar with you, Amaya," he said.

Amaya gave him a slight smile. "I appreciate it, Father," she said. _"Of course he has time to spar with me...but to take even a few minutes just to talk to me is out of the question,"_ she thought. Amaya loved her father, but sometimes she felt like the man just didn't know how to deal with her. Amaya kept her thoughts to herself as she took her place in the middle of the dojo in front of her father.

Yashiro nodded to his daughter, and the two bowed, then entered their respective combat stances. Amaya's was slightly different from her father's, since the two used slightly different fighting styles. Amaya had been working for a while to make her father's signature style work better for someone with a slighter frame like she herself had. The results had been less than perfect, but she was far from disappointed in them nonetheless, and even Yashiro had to admit she was very good with her altered style. The main difference in their stances was that, while Yashiro was standing mostly straight and had his arms at rigid angles to his body, Amaya was in a semi-crouch and had her arms in much looser positions. Yashiro smiled at his daughter once more and announced, "Begin!"

Amaya shot forward at her father's command. Her first barrage of attacks was blocked easily, as she expected. Her father knew what he was doing, of course. He was a Jonin, after all, and she wasn't even a Genin yet. Rank and age difference notwithstanding, however, Amaya had occasionally won when she and her father sparred. Of course, Amaya knew this was primarily because her father was holding back and didn't intend to truly hurt her, but both she and her father were always truly proud of her when she managed to win.

After her first barrage of attacks was blocked, Amaya dropped low and attempted a sweeping kick, which Yashiro dodged by simply jumping backward. Amaya grinned at her father, who nodded in acknowledgment of the skill with which she'd executed her first attack, then assumed a defensive stance to await her father's attack. She had been practicing a new move, and she hoped her father would give her an opening to use it.

Yashiro didn't keep his daughter waiting very long. He moved quickly, not as his full speed but still quickly, launching a quick series of punches aimed for her shoulders, chest, and face. Amaya managed to use her quicker reflexes and smaller size to dodge most of the attacks, and she blocked the rest. Then, Yashiro ducked down somewhat and launched two kicks in quick succession. The first was a sweeping kick, which, as he expected, Amaya dodged by jumping straight up. The other was a high kick that, he hoped, would hit her while she was in midair and unable to dodge. This move, however, gave Amaya just the opening she had been wanting. When she jumped, rather than simply leaping upward, she tucked her body into a ball at the same time and rotated ninety degrees so that her legs were aimed toward her father. When the rotation was done, she launched her legs out as hard as she could, landing a solid double kick on her father's left thigh. Using the contact to push her legs up, she finished a full back-flip and landed on her feet. She grinned at her father.

Yashiro returned the girl's grin. "That was a good move," he told her proudly. "When did you learn that?"

Amaya shrugged. "I've been working on it for a while now, I just mastered the midair spin a week or so ago, but this is the first time I ever managed to stick the landing," she told him proudly.

Yashiro smiled. "I'm glad to see you're taking your future ninja life seriously, Amaya," he said. "Maybe one day you'll actually beat me in a serious fight."

He didn't come right out and say it, but it was obvious the man was proud of his daughter. Amaya was stunned. _"Huh...I guess they were right, he _is_ proud of me,"_ she thought. _"I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad about that..."_

Yashiro didn't seem to notice that his daughter's face underwent a transformation from shocked to cynical. "Come on, your mother will be expecting us," he said blithely. Amaya nodded, and the two returned to their home, Amaya's thoughts still having a sour tone to them. Once they got home, the duo found Amaya's mother waiting for them with a warm smile. The two made their way to their respective bedrooms to get ready for dinner.

Amaya looked at herself in the mirror. A pretty black-haired girl with kind black eyes and a perfect figure looked back at her. _"I really don't get it,"_ she thought to herself. _"What does he see in that Hyuga princess? What does she have that I don't?"_ Sighing deeply, she cleaned herself up and headed back to the dining room to join her parents. Amaya's mother, Takara Uchiha, gave her young daughter a small smile, which Amaya returned. She knew her mother was trying to make sure she was okay, and she didn't want her parents to worry, so she always put on a show of being all right for them. It was probably the hardest thing she had to do in a given day.

"How was your day, Amaya?" Takara inquired once the small family was sitting down together and had been served their dinner.

"It was fine," Amaya answered. "Father and I sparred a bit, and I talked to Aunt Fumiko earlier."

Takara smiled; Amaya always seemed to be in a better mood after having talked to her aunt. Yashiro nodded and told his wife, "Amaya is finally really mastering her new style. I'm sure she'll do fine when she takes the taijutsu exam next year in the Academy."

Takara smiled even wider. "We are both proud of you, Amaya," she said.

Amaya snarled. This had gone on long enough. Hearing her mother put into words what she had suspected for a while now was just the straw that broke the camel's back. "Damn it!" she yelled. Yashiro and Takara looked at their daughter in surprise, wondering what had caused her to suddenly snap. "I tried for years to gain your approval by being myself, and you always said I wasn't a good enough Uchiha and how I should be more proper and all this...and now, when my heart is breaking and it's all I can do to get through the day without breaking down crying, NOW you're proud of me?!" Amaya was building up to a fever pitch as she spoke, and tears were beginning to flow freely from her eyes. "Why can you not just accept that I am who I am and be proud of me for THAT?!" With that, the girl spun and ran to her room, slamming her door behind her and throwing herself on the bed, where she finally let loose the sobs she had been holding in for weeks now, crying into her hands and letting out all the pain of being rejected and all her other frustrations and angers of the last few weeks.

Amaya lost track of how long she cried, but she felt sure it had been over an hour, even though it had likely only been a few minutes. When she felt she had almost cried herself out, the girl got a surprise. Both of her parents came into her room and sat by her on the bed. Her father rested a hand on the small of her back, and her mother's hand found its way onto her shoulder. Her mother spoke first. "I'm sorry, Amaya," she began. "I didn't mean to make you think that we weren't proud of you before. Your father and I have always been so proud of you."

"She's right, Amaya," Yashiro added. "I've always been proud of you, and I've always loved you, I've just never really known how to show it." He took a deep breath, then added, "I'm sorry I hurt you. That was never my intention."

Amaya slowly rolled over and looked at her parents, who were both giving her comforting smiles. She managed a small, sad smile of her own for them. Takara reached up and caressed the girl's cheek, then told her, "Amaya, I am so sorry that we made you feel like our love was something you had to earn. It has always been yours, and it will always be, no matter what." Amaya smiled a bit wider at her parents as her father nodded in confirmation of her mother's words.

"Thank you, both of you," she said, her voice full of emotion. Sitting up, she hugged both her parents, who returned the gesture. Releasing them, Amaya added, "It's been a tiring day, so I think I'm going to get to bed early, if that's all right?" Both her parents nodded, then leaned down and kissed her forehead gently before leaving her to her own devices. Getting up, Amaya changed into her pajamas before climbing back into bed and falling asleep almost immediately.

The next day, Amaya spent the morning wandering around the village and thinking. Shortly after lunchtime, she happened upon a training ground she'd never been to before. She climbed up into a tree on the edge of the training ground so as to be out of the way of any attacks coming from anyone who might be there. Upon closer inspection, Amaya discovered that Team Six was using the ground to practice. Naruto was sparring with Neji, each of them using elemental manipulation and his own special jutsu to his advantage. As Amaya watched, Neji dispatched thirty of Naruto's Shadow Clones within a few seconds using his Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation. Then her attention turned to the third member of Team Six, who was currently sparring with the team's sensei. Amaya's gaze turned into a glare as she realized the third teammate was Hinata and that the team's sensei was Shisui Uchiha. _"She wasn't satisfied just taking Naruto from me, she had to take Shisui, too!"_ she thought bitterly. Rationally, she knew that Hinata had had no control whatsoever over whose team she was on or who her sensei was, but she still blamed the girl for the current situation, no matter how irrational doing so was. As she watched the team, Hinata performed what looked to be a low-level water jutsu, and Neji used a similarly low-level earth jutsu. Then something happened that utterly shocked her.

Neji and Hinata had been practicing their elemental jutsu for a while now, and the two had both mastered their respective A-rank jutsu. As Naruto charged at Neji again with a huge grin on his face, Neji jumped backward a bit, flashing through hand signs as he did. Amaya's eyes widened in astonishment as he slammed his hand into the ground, and it turned into a deep swampy area before her very eyes. "EARTH STYLE: SWAMP OF THE UNDERWORLD!" Neji called out. Naruto and his clones were caught in the deep muck of the swamp Neji had created. Amaya's jaw dropped open as she saw this.

"_There's no way he should be able to do that as a Genin!"_ she thought to herself before turning to Hinata. _"At least she doesn't have some super high-level jutsu like that."_

As Amaya thought this, however, Hinata was flashing through a series of hand signs of her own and heading for the nearby stream. Upon reaching the stream, the Hyuga heiress simply walked out onto the surface of the water. Once there, she finished her set of hand signs and called out, "WATER STYLE: GIANT VORTEX JUTSU!"

To Amaya's shocked eyes, a vortex over twice Hinata's height formed behind the slight girl and rushed toward their sensei. Amaya had just a split second to worry about what a jutsu like that would do to a person before it slammed into Shisui. The man was thrown into a nearby tree with what must have been explosive force. Amaya almost jumped from her perch to check on the man when she realized he wasn't there; he had substituted out of the way at the last possible instant.

As she continued to watch in shock, Amaya realized Naruto had created another huge group of clones, at least sixty if her guess was right, and was attacking Neji again. Apparently, the clones had gotten him out of the swamp while Amaya was watching Hinata. Amaya didn't stay there much longer; she had already seen plenty. As she was leaving, a thought crossed her mind. _"I better be careful of those three...any one of them could kill me if they wanted to,"_ she thought.

The girl made her way back home. By the time she got there, her features were set, and her eyes were filled with an all-new determination. _"The next time Naruto sees me,"_ she thought to herself, _"I will be a ninja he can be proud of and who is worthy to stand at his side. You will not beat me, Hinata!"_ Little did the girl know, her new determination would change the very course of history.


	5. A New Mission

Chapter 4

It was a pleasant, sunny day. The Hidden Leaf Village and its inhabitants felt very lazy due to the warm sun shining down upon them. To all appearances, everyone from the newest Genin to the most battle-hardened veteran was taking advantage of the pleasant day by sleeping late and spending their waking time doing as little as they could.

There was only one man in the entire village who was unaffected by the lazy day: a man whose tanned skin, toned muscles, scarred arms, and black knee-length robe all made him stand out. His face was shadowed by the wide-brimmed straw hat he was wearing, but if anyone had gotten close enough to him, they would have seen an x-shaped scar on his proud chin. Although no one could see his face, everyone who saw him _could_ see the determination flashing in his dark eyes. This mysterious figure made his way directly to the Hokage tower. Despite being a stranger, the man only received the occasional curious glance. The man's obviously powerful body and his determined glare discouraged anyone who might have given him more than that single look.

Looking up as his secretary opened the door to his office, the Hokage raised an eyebrow in surprise at the man standing before him. It was rare indeed for him to find a man with sun-darkened skin and a straw hat in his office. "You must be from the Land of Waves, am I right?" he asked calmly, despite the furious activity of his mind at that moment. The man nodded. "And what can we of the Hidden Leaf do for your people?"

The man took a deep breath and looked at the Hokage, allowing the deep sadness he carried within to show through his eyes for the first time since he arrived in the village. "My name is Kaiza," he said. "And I have come from the Land of Waves, as you surmised, to request the aid of your village to overthrow a tyrant who has practically enslaved my people."

The Hokage's kind eyes closed for a moment as he ran a hand through his light, spiky hair. "What rank mission are you seeking?" he asked after thinking for a moment.

"I have been authorized to pay for a C-Rank mission," Kaiza responded. "Due to the aforementioned tyrant, my land and people are poor, so we cannot afford any more than that right now. If you believe the mission should be higher than that rank, we can pay you more over time to cover the difference. Please, Lord Hokage, we need your help." That said, the man got down on his hands and knees and pressed his forehead to the floor.

The Hokage sighed and pressed a hand to his forehead. "Please, get up," he said after a moment. Kaiza did so after a brief hesitation. "The Land of Waves has always been a close ally of the Hidden Leaf, so we will not abandon you now." At these words, Kaiza's dark eyes brightened. "Now, please, be candid with me, what will my ninja be facing in your homeland?"

xxxxxx

Naruto, Hinata, and Neji all turned proud smiles onto their sensei. "We've all done it!" they said in unison. Naruto had finally fulfilled his part of Shisui's conditions for them to take on a C-rank mission.

Shisui smiled at his Genin proudly. "Yes, you've all done it," he said. "I'm surprised you all did it so fast. I'm proud of you all. Now, I'll leave it up to you three, do you want to take a C-rank mission today or take the rest of the day off and start off tomorrow with the C-rank?"

Naruto and Hinata looked at one another and nodded; they were both good to go that day, and neither of them had to even say anything to know it. The couple then turned to Neji, who thought a moment, then asked, "Today?" The other two nodded, and Neji thought a further moment, then nodded as well. The three turned back to their sensei, and Neji, acting as spokesman for all three, told him, "We're all good to take it today, Shisui-sensei. If you believe we should take a day off to rest before taking the mission, we will respect your decision, but we believe we are prepared immediately."

Shisui took a moment to ponder this. "Naruto, how many clones can you make now?" he asked.

"I can make sixty training clones, which last four hours now. I can make eighty recon clones, which can last up to six hours, and I can spar with up to three hundred now, though those still don't usually last very long," Naruto summed up succinctly.

When Shisui turned his attention on to Hinata, she preempted him by saying, "I can keep my Byakugan active for up to two hours at full range, which is up to four kilometers. I know you said to only increase the range or duration, but in the course of increasing my range, my duration had to increase, too. It took more than an hour at a time to train with it, after all."

Shisui finally turned his attention to Neji, who simply stated, "You know full well I have learned every jutsu you asked me to, and then some, Sensei."

Shisui returned to pondering a moment, then told them, "You have all surpassed my conditions for a C-rank mission by leagues. If you all believe you are ready for a mission today, I won't stand in your way." Naruto and Hinata both leapt into the air and gave celebratory shouts. Neji, more dignified than his two quirky teammates, as usual, simply gave a pleased smile. Shisui chuckled at his team's antics, then said, "All right then, let's go get that mission!" With that, the four ninja took off across the village toward the Hokage tower.

xxxxxx

The Hokage looked up when Team Six entered his office. "You four are here for a C-rank?" he asked. When Shisui nodded, he chuckled briefly and said, "This is perfect timing. I had a C-rank mission brought directly to me today that I think your team would be perfectly suited to accomplish. Are you four willing to travel?" At the affirming nods, the Hokage simply tossed Shisui a scroll.

Catching it, Shisui asked, "When and where should we collect our client?"

"He's planning to meet you and your team at the main gate tomorrow morning at dawn," the Hokage replied. "He pretty much told me if a team wasn't there at that time, he was going back himself. When you read the scroll, you'll see why. He's a brave man, and a grand majority of our trade comes either from or through his land. We cannot afford for this mission to be a failure."

Shisui bowed deeply. "Thank you for entrusting this crucial mission to my team, Lord Hokage," he said.

The Hokage gave a kind smile to the team before him. "I trust all four of you completely," he said simply. "And Shisui, be careful not to overuse those eyes of yours." Shisui nodded. "Team Six, you are dismissed." The four ninja bowed to their leader and departed the office.

"_It's always hard giving that team a mission,"_ the Hokage thought to himself. _"It's the hardest thing I do in a day to not show favoritism to Naruto in particular. I'm just glad he's a good enough ninja and a strong enough person to understand why I treat him how I do during mission assignment."_ Sighing, the Hokage set aside his hat and set himself back to work on the abominable paperwork that plagued his office on a daily basis. _"If only I could convince my clones to do this for me..."_ he thought regretfully.

The Following Morning

Team Six met up shortly before dawn at a small tea shop to have some breakfast before departing on their journey. "Are you guys as excited and nervous as I am?" Naruto asked as they ate. "I mean, this is the first time we're all going to be leaving the village. We're going to officially be travelers after today!"

Neji gave a slight chuckle and responded, "Yeah, I'm pretty excited. But if I'm being honest, I'm rather nervous, too. Lord Hokage is putting a huge responsibility in our hands. I don't even know exactly what the mission is, but it's a bit nerve-wracking just thinking that this mission _can't _fail."

Hinata nodded, then turned to their sensei, who had decided to join them this morning, and asked, "Sensei, exactly what _is_ this mission? It doesn't matter in the long run, I suppose, but it might do us some good to have an idea what we're getting into before we leave."

Shisui smiled at Hinata. "I'm glad one of you had the courage to ask that," he said. "We are to meet up with a man named Kaiza at the gate of the village, escort him back to the Land of Waves, and protect him and his father-in-law while they finish building a bridge that will extend between the Land of Waves and our own Land of Fire. I gather that this bridge will break the hold that a certain tyrant holds over the island nation. Gato, the scroll said the man's name is. He apparently has a stranglehold on all trade in and out of the Land of Waves, and is slowly choking the nation to death."

"Gato, huh?" Naruto said. Shisui nodded. "I've heard his name before. He's a shipping magnate, if I'm not mistaken." Shisui gave Naruto a proud smile and nodded again. Naruto continued, "So, if he's in control of all the shipping in an island nation, he can pretty much control everything, down to the lives of the people of the nation. I wonder how long it'll be before the entire nation has lost their spirit." By the time he finished, Naruto looked quite depressed. Looking at the food he still had left, he suddenly swept it into a small pile and sealed it in a scroll he had with him for just such an occasion and stuck it in his pack. Getting up, he went to the main counter of the shop and ordered a lot more food, which joined his own leftovers in the scroll, which was, in turn, returned to his pack. Returning to his team, who were all giving him weird looks, Naruto explained, "If they can't get in supplies, I doubt this place has a lot of food. I can't go there and not take as much as I can to help them."

Neji and Hinata both began to look rather depressed, then followed Naruto's example. Soon, all three of them had scrolls of food stuck in their packs. Shisui smiled proudly at his team, then departed the shop, returning a moment later with five scrolls. Handing one to each of his Genin, he explained, "These are all full of emergency relief food for just such an occasion. You three may deploy these as you see fit, but keep in mind that no matter how much you help them now, it may not last very long."

Hinata nodded as she stuck her new scroll into her pack. "It may not last, but it's still better than nothing," she said back.

Shisui nodded. "Well said, Hinata," he replied. "I am proud of all three of you. It may not seem like much to you, but giving of yourselves like this is a very encouraging trait for you to have. Now, let's get going, we have a client to meet."

Less than five minutes later, the four ninja had reached the gate. They found a dark-skinned man wearing a straw hat waiting there. "Kaiza, I presume?" Shisui asked the man.

"Yes, that's me," Kaiza replied. "So, you four are the team I've hired, huh?" Shisui nodded. Kaiza came closer and bent down to look into the eyes of each of the three Genin. "How old are you three?" he asked after a moment.

"Hinata and I are eleven, Neji's twelve," Naruto responded for all three of them. "We may be young, but it would be a mistake to underestimate us." That said, Naruto formed a familiar hand-sign and created a perfect clone of himself, which transformed into Kaiza a moment later, then Shisui, then Hinata, then Neji, and finally back to Naruto. "I can create hundreds of those if need be."

Kaiza couldn't help being impressed by what he had just witnessed. "And I take it the rest of you have similar abilities?" he asked.

Shisui stepped in at this point. "I am a Jonin, sir. These three have abilities that surpass even mine in some ways, but I am no pushover myself." That said, he suddenly vanished. A moment later, he reappeared exactly where he had been as if nothing had happened.

Kaiza looked shocked. "What was that?" he asked.

"That was my own personal version of the Body Flicker Jutsu. Most ninja can't do that without leaving something behind where they were, be it smoke or leaves or whatever. I can do it so well that I never leave anything behind, and I'm so fast with it, I've been called a teleporter before. Technically, that's not quite what I do, but it's as good a term as any, I suppose," the man explained.

Kaiza raised an eyebrow at this. "I see. In that case, I don't think I need to worry. You are all obviously more than capable of dealing with anything Gato might throw at us," he said. "Well, in that case, we should get moving. The day is wasting." Team Six nodded in unison, and the five people turned and walked out of the village gate. None of them could have predicted what they would encounter in the Land of Waves.

xxxxxx

Amaya sighed as she watched Team Six leave the village. _"I never got a chance to show Naruto how much I've grown,"_ she thought to herself. _"Oh, well. I guess I'll just have to see him when he gets back from his mission."_ She refused to let herself even consider the possibility that Naruto wouldn't come back.

Turning away from the village gate, Amaya made her way to the Academy. Sitting through classes that particular day was one of the hardest things the young Uchiha had ever done. She wanted nothing more than to be out there with her true love, fighting off evil bandits or whatever it was he was doing. Sighing dreamily, she pictured herself and Naruto fighting off an enemy ninja while the rest of the village watched on in awe.

Suddenly, she felt something smack into the side of her head. Turning in surprise, she found an eraser sitting on her desk. It was the eraser that had hit her. "Amaya, please, pay attention!" Iruka told her in frustration. He had had more than enough of Amaya's dreamy stares and sighs to last him a lifetime by now.

Amaya nodded. "Sorry, Sensei," she said. And she tried to pay attention after that. It was still really hard, seeing as her dear Naruto still wasn't there, but she did try. Iruka sighed and returned to his lecture.

xxxxxx

Naruto, Hinata, and Neji had spent the last few hours walking in companionable silence. Kaiza had been watching how the three of them behaved with one another, surprised at how close the three obviously were as friends. He highly doubted the three of them were merely teammates. As for their sensei, he was simply walking along behind Kaiza himself, occasionally scanning the forest around them like he was looking for something.

Fascinated by these four people he had only just met, Kaiza eventually had to ask them, "How long have you all known one another?"

From directly beside him, Naruto's voice responded, "I've known Hinata and Neji for most of my life. I believe I first met them when Hinata and I were five. Hinata and I have been a couple for about two years now, and Neji and I have been friends for about a year. We only met Shisui-sensei a little over a month ago, though."

Kaiza raised an eyebrow. "You and Hinata are dating? At eleven?" he asked in surprise.

It was Shisui who answered. "In the life of a ninja, death is an everyday event. We all put our lives on the line during every mission and every fight. As a result, dating at a young age is a fairly common event, especially among the ninja clans, like Hinata's, who have set up their traditions to account for the short average life expectancy of us ninja," he explained.

Kaiza thought about that a moment, then asked his next question. "Do you two have an arranged marriage?"

Hinata smiled. "We do, but my family wouldn't force us to go through with it if we didn't want to be together. It was originally a clan affair, but we also chose to be together ourselves," she said.

Kaiza smiled. "I'm glad to hear you Leaf ninja aren't so deeply buried in tradition that you won't allow for individual choice," he said. "I've heard of some people being forced into marriages and battles by their clans for no better reason than it's what the clan wants."

Shisui chuckled. "Don't assume all clans are as malleable as the Hyuga. Some of my own cousins were forced into marriages in an effort to ally the Uchiha clan with other clans. Fortunately, none of them have ended up in abusive relationships or anything, but I know at least one Uchiha who is in a totally loveless marriage due to an arrangement like that," he said. "There's a reason I'm trying to influence Itachi and Sasuke, the sons of the clan head, to change some of our traditions."

Kaiza gave Shisui an honest smile. "I'm glad to hear that you're trying to change it, at least," he said. "I'll never understand how you ninja can set aside your own feelings and do things for the good of the clan or the village or whatever."

"It's not like that for all of us," Naruto told the man. "I love my village. My dream is to be the Hokage someday and protect everyone there. And I love Hinata, so I'll do anything I can to protect her. I don't have to set aside my feelings to do that."

Kaiza slowly nodded. He was about to say something more when everyone heard a loud "THUD" from the trail ahead of them. Turning, the five people there found themselves looking at a group of three people standing there, seemingly blocking their path. After a moment, they realized that the thud they had heard was from a large sword slamming into a tree...and there was a fourth person standing on the handle of the sword.

The first person they saw was wearing a gray cloak which covered...him? Her? They couldn't be sure, but this figure was covered from neck to thigh by the cloak, then from there to its knees by what seemed to be a short skirt, or maybe another cloak, and had a mask covering its face. On its feet, the figure wore normal shinobi sandals. This figure's arms were crossed in front of its chest, and each hand grasped three senbon. The mask was framed by two long strands of hair, which were tied near the bottom with simple white bands.

Next to this androgynous figure, there stood a man who looked significantly older than the first figure. This man had white hair, pale skin, and two red dots on his forehead. His shoulder-length white hair was parted in the middle, and his bright green eyes had a sickly look to them. The man's clothes were gray and black, except for the white bandages around his ankles and two red hair-bindings tied in his bangs. Upon closer investigation, Naruto got the strange impression that this man's clothes were all designed to be removed at a moment's notice. He filed that bit of information away for later, along with the sickly look to the man's eyes.

The final person on the ground had spiky orange hair, reddish-orange eyes, and ruddy skin. Naruto felt an odd familiarity coming from this young man, who looked to be about three years older than Naruto himself. The young man had birds sitting on his shoulders and seemed to be talking to them.

The fourth and final member of this odd group, standing atop the sword's handle, was wearing a mask of bandages that covered his face from the nose down, no shirt, an odd-looking girdle that Team Six assumed must have been a harness for his huge sword, loose black pants, matching striped wrist- and leg-warmers, and a pair of black closed shoes. The man was tall and muscular and had spiky black hair, brown eyes, thin eyebrows, and oddly pale skin. His skin was so pale, in fact, it almost looked gray.

"It can't be," Shisui said after a moment. His already-activated Sharingan were focused on the tall man standing atop the sword. "What in the world are you doing here, Zabuza?"

Naruto was shocked to hear that name. "Zabuza?" he asked. "You don't mean...Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist, do you?" Shisui's nod was one of the most frightening things Team Six had ever seen.

A/N: Dun dun DUN! What could I be doing now? Guess you'll just have to come back next time and find out! I hope you all enjoyed, and I hope to hear from all of you, whether it be with encouraging reviews or constructive criticism. Flames will be used to roast those who start them.


	6. Ripples in Wave

Chapter 5

Zabuza gave off a bit of a chuckle. "Ah, Shisui Uchiha, the infamous master of the body flicker. I'm flattered that one such as you would know my name," he said, then leapt down from his sword's handle, yanking the sword out of the tree on his way to the ground. Once he was standing on solid ground, he confirmed Team Six's suspicion that his girdle was a harness for his sword by slipping the huge blade into it. Team Six relaxed slightly when he sheathed his weapon, but they were all still on their guard.

"How could I not be aware of one such as you, Zabuza?" Shisui asked after a moment. "You only slaughtered every single Genin-hopeful in a graduating class that you weren't even a part of at the age of six." Shisui paused a moment before adding, "It was quite a show, from what I gather."

Zabuza chuckled darkly. "You have no idea how good it felt to do that," he said back. "You are off on one thing, though. There was one survivor of that class...though sometimes I wonder if letting her live was a mistake." Suddenly, the muscular man gave a _tremendous_ shudder, then sighed. "I'm going to pay for saying that when I get back to the Mist Village."

Naruto laughed. "What, is that how you met your wife?" he asked as a joke.

Zabuza opened one eye wider than the other. If anyone else had done this, it would have been a raised eyebrow, but since Zabuza didn't have eyebrows, it just made him look like he was gaping at the boy with one eye. The effect was slightly comical. "How did you know?" he asked.

A new voice suddenly drew the attention of all eight ninja and Kaiza. "That may be the most ridiculous story I've ever heard for how a couple met," the voice said with a cackle. The man who had spoken was a good bit older than anyone else there, if his graying hair and beard meant anything. He also had wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, and his cheeks showed some shallow lines. He was wearing a sleeveless black shirt with an obi, a typical pair of pants, and sandals, and he was carrying a towel around his neck and a pack of some kind on his back. As he spoke, his glasses slipped down to the end of his nose, giving him the look of some kind of scholar. The eyes behind the glasses held a twinkle of mischief that showed he was also a kindhearted old man.

Kaiza grinned upon seeing the owner of this new voice. "Tazuna!" he yelled happily. "You succeeded as well, I see."

Shisui injected a question here. "Who is this man, Kaiza?" he asked.

Kaiza stiffened slightly before turning to Team Six. "I think we have a lot to explain. This is my father-in-law, Tazuna," he said. "You see, when it became clear that the only way for us to deal with Gato was to get some ninja to help us, I came to your Hidden Leaf Village and Tazuna left at the same time for the Hidden Mist Village. We figured if one of us failed, the other would likely come back with a team of ninja to help us. It seems we both succeeded...so now we have more ninja than we strictly need."

Shisui and Zabuza exchanged a glance, then both nodded. "If you can supply our teams with a large area to train together, I think we can make the time worth our while," Shisui said. When Tazuna and Kaiza hesitated for a moment, he added, "Of course, if you refuse, one or both of our villages might take it as a personal affront...and maybe even an act of war...and who knows what might happen then." Of course, both men changed their tone at that and nodded furiously. "That's what I thought." Turning to Zabuza, Shisui said, "I think our teams could benefit from training against one another as well as together, wouldn't you agree, Zabuza?"

Zabuza considered his own Genin, then looked Shisui's up and down. "I'm sure your brats could benefit from it, but I somehow doubt they could push any of my Genin," he said after a moment. "Well, maybe the older Hyuga could, if he's any good with his Byakugan, but the other two probably don't even know what it means to be a ninja yet."

From beside Zabuza, a sudden voice spoke up. "Be careful who you underestimate, Zabuza, I could have killed all three of your Genin just now," Naruto said. Turning, Zabuza was shocked to find Naruto clones standing with kunai at the throats of all three of his Genin. "Oh, and I could have killed you, too," Naruto added from behind Zabuza. Turning in surprise, the large man found a Wind Style Rasengan hovering mere inches from his chest. Pulling away from the Jonin and releasing the Genin, Naruto smiled a bit as he dispelled his clones. "I think I made my point."

Zabuza nodded a bit. He was shaken to his core by what had just happened. Turning to Shisui, he asked in shock, "Who is that boy?"

Shisui chuckled. "He's Naruto Namikaze," he said. He had to hold in a laugh at the look of disbelief on Zabuza's face at that name. "Oh, and the girl is Hinata Hyuga, and she's no pushover, either. She and Neji tend to destroy training grounds when they spar."

Zabuza gave a slight grunt. "I see," he said, his voice shaking slightly as he considered just how powerful this team might be. "In that case, maybe my team _can_ benefit from training with yours. Let us meet up later tonight and come up with some exercises for them. I believe you and I have much to discuss." Shisui simply nodded his agreement to this.

xxxxxx

It had taken about an hour to cross the water to get into the Land of Waves proper, and another two hours to get to Tazuna's home. During this time, Team Six discovered that Zabuza's androgynous Genin was named Haku, the white-haired sickly fellow was Kimimaro, and the ruddy boy with the birds was Jugo. Something about Jugo's name seemed familiar to Naruto, as did the boy himself, but Naruto couldn't place it for the life of him.

Shortly before arriving at Tazuna's home, it came out that Haku, Jugo, and Kimimaro all had bloodline powers. Naruto growled a bit, then said, "So I'm the only one here who doesn't have a Kekkei Genkai?"

Zabuza chuckled a bit. "Not quite, brat, I don't have one, either," he said back. "Besides, if what you did earlier is any indication, it's not like you need one."

Naruto chuckled. "That's true enough, but still, I feel like a piece of parsley sitting beside some huge fancy meal," he said back.

Zabuza stopped to consider that for a moment. Once he was sure he got the boy's point, he said back, "How do you think I feel? They gave me a trio of Genin who all have powers I can never even hope to attain just because I'm a weapon-user, and these three all have powers that make being skilled with weapons darn near essential. As often as not, I feel like an umbrella on a sunny day."

Hinata giggled quietly at this exchange. Neji raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm just thinking how fitting it is that Naruto would use a food analogy and Zabuza would use a water analogy to describe that," she explained.

Neji thought about that a moment, then chuckled himself. "Yeah, that's true, that is rather fitting," he said.

At this point, the small convoy arrived at a small hut. "Well, here we are," Tazuna said. Turning to the nine people with him, he thought a moment before adding, "I have no idea where we're going to put all of you. One team, we could probably manage, but both of you? No offense, but we simply don't have the room."

Shisui chuckled. "Don't worry about that. My team needs the experience sleeping in the woods, anyway. We'll camp out for the duration of our stay," he said.

Zabuza put in his two ryo at this point. "My team should probably camp out as well, and in a separate location. Doing so will facilitate our exercises and make them more like actual wartime conditions," he said bluntly.

Shisui considered this, then nodded. "That's true, and neither we nor our teams should know where the others are," he said thoughtfully. Zabuza nodded his agreement. "Also, we should probably forage for food from the forest, that will be good training for such a situation as well."

Zabuza laughed a bit. "I like you, Shisui," he said after a moment. "Yeah, that's true. Okay, then, let's get this going."

As the two teams were about to separate to go find their camping spots, a small voice yelled out, "Daddy! You're back!" Turning, the eight ninja found themselves looking at a small boy whose spiky black hair was sticking out from under a blue-striped white hat. He wore a pale shirt and green overalls. He had to turn his face upward some to be able to see out from under the brim of his hat. As the ninja watched, the small boy ran to Kaiza and threw himself into the man's arms.

A moment later, a young woman exited the home as well. Her pink shirt sported a red collar and the ends of its sleeves were also red. Her long black hair swung freely behind her as she walked up to Kaiza and wrapped her arms around both him and the small boy. Tazuna turned to their guests. "This is my daughter Tsunami and my grandson Inari," he said proudly. "I'm not asking you to do anything for me, I'm asking you to help me finish this bridge so that _they_ can live free of Gato's tyranny. Please, help us all."

Shisui smiled and told the old man, "We will, don't worry." That said, the eight ninja separated into their respective teams and vanished into the woods surrounding the small home.

xxxxxx

Back in the Hidden Leaf Village, Amaya was wandering around the village streets trying to stave off boredom. It had only been three days since Naruto and his team left the village, and already she had no idea what to do with herself. As she wandered aimlessly around, she happened to stumble upon a training ground, where she found two people a year older than herself training. One was the rather odd boy she had seen around the Academy on occasion who had huge eyebrows and had recently taken to wearing a green spandex onesie for some reason. He had also recently cut his hair into an atrocious-looking bowl cut.

As Amaya watched, the boy turned to his companion, the bun-haired girl Amaya had occasionally seen with the bowl-haired boy. Amaya had to think a moment, but she eventually remembered the boy was named Lee, and the girl was Tenten. Amaya was about to turn and leave when Tenten saw her. "It's Amaya, right?" Tenten asked.

Turning, Amaya nodded. "Yeah, and you're Lee and Tenten, right?" The two nodded in response. "I didn't mean to interrupt your training. I'll get out of your way now."

Lee and Tenten exchanged a glance, then nodded. "Why don't you join us?" Lee asked. "We can fan the flames of our youth together!" The boy wasn't quite shouting, but he was obviously excited about...whatever the hell he was talking about.

Amaya looked confused. Tenten rolled her eyes and explained, "He means we can train together. Trust me, you do NOT want to know about the whole 'youth' thing."

Amaya smiled hesitantly. "Are you sure?" she asked. "I mean, I don't want to get in your way or anything."

Tenten smiled kindly. "Don't worry about that. I'm sure you'll do fine. Now get in here and train with us!" she said. Amaya smiled and walked over to the two of them. The young Uchiha had no idea what she was getting herself into by joining those two...

xxxxxx

Amaya sighed deeply as she finally found herself back in her room at the Uchiha compound. "Who in the world has been training them?!" she asked herself as she fell face-first on her bed. She didn't even bother getting out of her clothes. Her body was _far_ too tired to worry about something so mundane as that.

She had only trained with Lee and Tenten for about two hours, but she didn't think she had ever been so exhausted in her life as she was right then. And they had somehow managed to get her to agree to join them for training again the next day! "What in the world have I gotten myself into?" she lamented as her eyes slowly drifted closed. "Well...at least I can be fairly certain that I'll get stronger training with them. Maybe...if I get good enough...Naruto...will..." She never finished her thought. She had fallen asleep.

xxxxxx

Team Six smiled as they looked around their campsite. It had all the comforts of home, what with the warm fire burning and their nice warm tents and such. The four of them had eaten some rabbits Neji had managed to catch somehow, and now they were ready to bed down for the night.

Shisui asked his Genin, "Are you three ready for the exercises to start tomorrow?" The three of them looked at one another, then back to him and nodded. "Good. I'll be honest, I have no idea what to expect of Zabuza's team, so just be ready for anything."

Naruto laughed. "With me around, these two are always ready for anything," he said with a smile. As he said this, the log Neji had been sitting on suddenly vanished. Proving Naruto's point, Neji simply shifted from his sitting position to sitting on his haunches as if nothing had happened. "See what I mean?"

Neji gave Naruto a small smile. "That was a pretty weak one, Naruto. I knew it was a clone before I even sat down. Can I have my seat back now?"

Naruto chuckled. "Sure, just had to make my point." Forming the cross seal, Naruto made a clone, which transformed back into the log for Neji. Neji sat back on it and nodded his understanding.

Shisui chuckled. "That's a good training tactic, Naruto. Well done," he said. "How long can you maintain clones like that?"

"If I only have one or two, which is all I usually need, I can maintain them for days. And I can use them as lookouts, too, so none of us need to be awake for us to be well-guarded," Naruto answered with a smile.

Shisui smiled. "Well, in that case, let's all get to bed, we're going to need our rest for tomorrow," he said simply. His three Genin nodded in return, and the four of them retired into their tents. Within minutes, all four were asleep.

A/N: Yeah, I know this one is a little shorter, but I need some time to plan out the exercises between Team Six and the Mist team. I hope you all enjoyed this one, and I hope you'll come back for more.


	7. Misty Six

Chapter 6

Shisui awoke promptly at dawn, looked at his team briefly, and decided to let them sleep a while longer. Climbing out of the tent stealthily, he pulled his cloak around himself a bit tighter; these early mornings in Wave were _cold_. The Sharingan-user made his way to Tazuna's home to check on their client.

Upon leaving the campsite, Shisui was accosted by one of Naruto's clones. "Where are you heading, Sensei?" the clone asked.

"I'm just going to go check on Tazuna and them," he replied quietly. "You guys can sleep in a bit today. How has it been out here tonight?"

The clone shrugged. "Peaceful. The loudest thing I've heard out here all night has been the occasional owl or hawk flying overhead and the wind blowing through the trees. And I haven't seen anything worth mentioning."

Shisui chuckled slightly. "Yeah, that's about what I expected. I'll catch you guys later." That said, he turned and continued to Tazuna's home. To his slight surprise, he met Zabuza just before arriving at the small hut. "Oh, Zabuza!" he said.

"Oh, morning, Shisui," the bandage-masked man said back calmly. "What brings you here at this hour?"

"The same thing that brought you here, I'd imagine. Just coming to check up on the client." Shisui stopped a moment, then continued, "It may be fortuitous that we each came here without our teams, however."

Zabuza thought about that a moment, then responded, "I do believe it is. What did you have in mind?"

Shisui smiled slightly. Zabuza was good, he had to admit that. "I'm thinking a mock Chunin Exam, on a smaller scale obviously, and only the finals. I even have some prospective fights to propose to you, if you're interested," he said back. Zabuza nodded slightly for him to go on, and Shisui continued, "I think Neji would be well-matched against Haku, Hinata would be the ideal opponent for Kimimaro, and Naruto should face Jugo."

Zabuza considered this for a moment. "I'm not so sure about Naruto facing Jugo, but the other two I admit are ideal, at least for a first match-up. Of course, we have plenty of time for each of the others to face off while we're here," he said. Shisui nodded. "I agree with your assessment then. Shall we get our teams?"

Shisui thought this over a moment, then shook his head. "There's no reason to wake them early, let them rest. Once they wake up and are well-rested, we can present them with this," he said.

Zabuza chuckled. "You're soft, Shisui," he teased. "I wouldn't have expected that from you."

Shisui shivered. "I'm not soft. I know if I wake up my team too early, they'll torment me for weeks," he responded. "They've driven me nuts before over less."

Zabuza pondered that a moment, then asked, "You mean to tell me those three Genin brats can effectively torment you at will?"

Shisui chuckled darkly. "You saw how good Naruto is with his clones," he said back. "And that doesn't even account for the other two."

Zabuza had to admit, though only to himself, that Shisui had a point there. "How in the world are you training those three, anyway?" Zabuza asked.

"Honestly, I'm not, really," Shisui replied. Zabuza raised an eyebrow at this. "They've only been my team for a few weeks at this point...Yes, believe it or not, they're VERY fresh Genin, and all I've really done is give them some jutsu scrolls to practice. Naruto knew the Wind Style Rasengan before he even graduated, Hinata and Neji have both been using the Byakugan for years, and Naruto's clones and his...bizarre taijutsu style make that team hard as hell to keep up with without any real input from me."

Zabuza pondered that. "I almost envy you that," he said after a moment. "I had to almost force my Genin to work together at first. I swear, I'm pretty sure Jugo wanted to kill Haku for the first month or so." Shisui raised an eyebrow at that. "It's a good thing Haku's fast. Jugo could never catch him."

Shisui chuckled. "I wonder who's faster, Haku or Naruto," he said thoughtfully.

Zabuza almost snapped back that Haku was far faster, but then he remembered how Naruto's clones had caught him, Haku, Jugo, _and_ Kimimaro totally off-guard on their first meeting. "I'm honestly not sure at this point," he said after a moment. "It would be interesting to see the answer to that. We must make sure they have at least one spar while we're here."

Shisui agreed, then the two finally turned to the house and checked in on their clients. Finding the small family was safe and comfortable (they were just getting up and preparing breakfast), the two turned to leave. Turning to Zabuza, Shisui said, "Let's meet up over by the bridge in an hour with our teams. We'll set out what we're going to be doing and go from there." Zabuza nodded, and the two Jonin split up, each headed for his team's campsite.

xxxxxx

Team Six gave the Mist team a small nod as they approached the bridge. Turning to Jugo, Naruto asked, "You know what's going on?" The orange-haired boy shook his head. "That's what I figured. We don't, either."

Haku spoke up. "It's only logical that our sensei wouldn't tell us what the exercise is ahead of time. We need to be prepared for anything at any time, after all."

Naruto nodded. "That's true enough, but it still worries me. If I know Shisui-sensei, he could easily be up to something really devious," the blond said, his voice betraying his slight worry.

From behind his team, Shisui spoke up at that moment. "Naruto, I'm disappointed in you, you should know I would only ever do what is in your best interests!" he said, mock-offended.

"Oh, I know, Shisui-sensei," Naruto replied. "That doesn't mean it won't hurt, though."

Shisui laughed. "That is true, Naruto. That which does not kill you only makes you stronger, after all," he said to his whole team, a mischievous glint in his red eyes as he said this. "Besides, you brats got lucky to be _my_ team. You could have ended up being taught by Anko Mitarashi or Ibiki Morino, and those two _thrive_ on pain. The more you hurt them, the more they enjoy it, and the more they'd hurt you back. Trust me, you're lucky."

Team Six did a collective shudder, then Neji spoke up. "On the subject of pain, Sensei," he began, "what exactly are we going to be doing today?"

Zabuza chose that moment to speak up from behind his own team, shocking everyone but Shisui with his appearance since no one had heard him coming. "Shisui and I have come up with a plan to have each of you fight a match today. Haku, you will face Neji," he said.

"Hinata, you will fight Kimimaro. And Naruto, you will spar with Jugo," Shisui interjected. "And Naruto, remember, it's a spar, you're not trying to kill him."

Naruto nodded seriously. "Got it, Sensei, take him down quick, but don't kill him, check," the blond said.

"All right," Zabuza said, chuckling internally at the blond's confidence. "Haku, Neji, step forward."

Haku and Neji stepped forward, while their teammates all stepped aside. "You two may go anywhere in the immediate area except for Tazuna's bridge. We were called here to help him complete the thing, not destroy it, so stay away from that. You may go onto the water, into the forest, wherever you like. The only rule is, don't kill each other," Shisui said. The two nodded. Turning to the other four, Shisui added, "That all goes for you four, too." They all nodded. Turning back to Neji and Haku, Shisui said simply, "Begin!" before jumping out of the way.

Neji and Haku stood still for a few moments, sizing one another up. _"I'm sure he's a Water Style user,"_ Neji concluded. _"I can't let him get anywhere near the water or I'm probably done for. If I can get somewhere with a large patch of bare earth, though...maybe..."_ With that thought in mind, Neji looked around quickly, spotted a small clearing near the edge of the water – he didn't care much for its location, but it was the best he could see at the moment – and moved quickly toward it. Haku grinned confidently and slowly followed his opponent.

"_Good strategy, Neji," _Shisui thought. He knew Neji was going to try for his A-rank jutsu. _"I wonder if it'll be enough."_

Once the two Genin arrived at the clearing Neji had spotted, they squared off at a short distance. Silence reigned for a moment, then Haku moved. Seeing the needle in Haku's hand, Neji grabbed a kunai and blocked the boy's attack. Haku grinned at Neji. "You know, I have already gained an important advantage," he said calmly.

"Oh, yeah? What's that?" Neji asked back.

"I've blocked one of your hands," Haku replied. "And having that water right there doesn't hurt, either." With that, Haku began forming hand signs with his one free hand.

Neji chuckled. "You really think you're the only one who can do that?" he asked and began doing _the exact same thing_. Utterly shocked, Haku froze for just a moment, allowing Neji to finish off his string of hand signs. "Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld!" he yelled out. As he said this, the large patch of open ground turned into a huge muddy sinkhole, which Haku promptly sank into up to his neck, effectively trapping him there. Neji grinned down at his opponent. "This fight is mine. Let this be a lesson to you to never underestimate your opponent," he said.

Haku groaned. "You're right. I can't move," he admitted after a moment. "Thank you for the lesson, Neji."

"Well, that's about what I expected there," Shisui said. "Let's have Naruto and Jugo go next. That should be fairly quick, too."

Zabuza reached down into the mud and pulled Haku out. "You think so, huh? We'll see about that."

Haku rejoined Kimimaro as Jugo stepped forward. Neji came to Haku and performed a low-level jutsu to get the mud off Haku's clothes. "Thanks," Haku said. Neji nodded, then turned and rejoined his cousin.

Naruto stepped forward and looked at Jugo. "Let's keep this clean," Naruto said.

Jugo nodded, then Shisui stepped forward. "Begin!" he said and stepped back again.

Naruto formed a cross hand-sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he yelled, and suddenly there were about 3000 Narutos in the general area. One Naruto made his way out of the crowd and walked over to Hinata as the rest of them swarmed Jugo. It took a moment, but eventually the massive number of clones had all clambered around and ended up attached to Jugo, either directly or indirectly. The one Naruto who had left was talking to Hinata. "Don't worry, Hinata, you can take that pale guy on. Besides, you're way hotter than him," he said, giving Hinata a teasing wink.

"Well, I should hope so," she responded. "He's a bony guy, I'm a girl, I'd hope you find me hotter," she said, returning the wink. "If you didn't, I'd be worried about you."

Naruto grinned, then held up a hand and snapped his fingers. The massive pile of clones all detonated at his snap. When the smoke cleared, Jugo was laying on the ground, alive, but severely hurt and unconscious.

Zabuza looked at Shisui in shock. "Just what the fuck was that?!" he asked.

Shisui chuckled. "Him holding back," he said back. He chuckled at the sight of Zabuza's bandages stretching as his jaw dropped, then said, "I told you that wouldn't take long."

"What is he?!" Zabuza asked. "Is he a jinchuriki or something?!"

Naruto laughed loudly. "What on earth would give you that idea?" he asked.

"Regardless, we have one fight left," Shisui said. Hinata and Kimimaro stepped forward without being prompted. "All right, let's see if at least one of these fights will take more than ten seconds," Shisui said with a laugh, then said, for the third time in half as many minutes, "Begin!" and jumped back out of the way.

To Kimimaro's surprise, Hinata's Byakugan flared to life instantly, and she charged forward. Hitting the boy faster than he could predict, Hinata was surprised to see his chakra points stay open and unfazed from her attack. _"That's impossible,"_ she thought to herself, then she remembered hearing stories of a clan in the Mist Village who had a bloodline that blocked the Gentle Fist. _"What was that clan's name?!"_ she asked herself. Racking her brain, she just couldn't remember the name. Shrugging it off after a second or two, she thought, _"Well, if I can't use Gentle Fist, I have other options."_ With that thought, she disengaged from the boy and immediately made for the water.

Kimimaro was surprised when the girl suddenly broke off her attack and made for the water. After a brief pause, he began shooting bones out of the ends of his fingers at her. Hinata dodged them easily. Kimimaro pursued the girl, not sure what she intended to do once she got to the water. After all, she wasn't from the Mist Village, why would she be running _to_ the water?

When Hinata got to the water, she ran out onto its surface and turned to her opponent. Forming a string of hand-signs quickly, she yelled out, "Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!" To Kimimaro's shock, a huge swirling circle of water formed behind her and rushed at him. He was caught so totally off-guard by this that he didn't even get a chance to dodge. The jutsu slammed into him, throwing him backward into the rock wall below the bridge, where it buffeted him for almost a full minute. When the jutsu finally stopped, Kimimaro was awake, but he was in no shape to continue the fight. "I forfeit," he said simply before falling to the ground.

Zabuza looked at Shisui in shock. "You have a water user on your team?!" he asked.

Shisui chuckled. "Yes, yes, I do. She learned that jutsu in the course of just a few weeks, too. And trust me, all three of them were holding back just now," he said proudly.

"What the hell do you people eat in the Leaf Village?!" Zabuza asked incredulously. "No one in the Mist could stand up to these three. Hell, I bet any one of them could take on the Mizukage and hold their own. They might not win, but they'd give the Mizukage a hell of a fight!"

Shisui chuckled. "Naruto trains with the Hokage all the time, Hinata is the heiress of the Hyuga clan, and Neji is the prodigy of the Hyuga. I don't think there are many people in all the Elemental Nations who could take on those three," he said, his immense pride in his team shining through in his voice.

Zabuza clucked his tongue. "The Chunin exams are coming up...they're in the Land of Lightning this year. Are you going to enter them?" he asked Shisui.

"I'll be putting their names up for entrance, yes. Whether they actually enter or not is up to them, though," Shisui responded. "Let's part ways for now, get our teams cleaned up, and get back here to guard Tazuna and his bridge."

Zabuza nodded, picked up Jugo and walked off toward his team's campsite with the other two walking behind him.

Shisui turned to his team and opened his mouth to suggest they get cleaned up, then realized all three of them were fine. None of them had even broken a sweat. "You three are ridiculous, you know that?" he asked them.

"Yeah, we know, Sensei," Naruto replied. "But you wouldn't love us if we were anything else, would you?"

"_Damn it...he's got me there!"_ Shisui thought to himself, shaking his head at his team. "Come on, you three. Let's go to Tazuna's house and see what's going on today." That said, the three Genin and one Jonin turned and headed back toward their client's home.


End file.
